What violin is best for beginners?
I always strongly encourage beginning violinists to rent an instrument rather than buying. First, you don’t truly know if you’ll stick with it for the long haul. I’ve seen may students who were so eager to learn at first struggle to find time to practice, get discouraged with the progress, and quit within the first few months. If this is the case, it’s much easier to return a rented instrument rather than trying to sell one you spent a good chunk of change on. Renting is also generally more affordable than buying an instrument out right. In my area (the East Coast of the US), it costs about $40 per month to rent a violin, and some shops even give crazy discounts to first time renters (like $140 for 10 months!). Additionally, when you rent an instrument, the shop will be much more likely to help you when problems inevitably arise. They’ll be able to help tune your instrument, change your strings, and perhaps even put tapes on it for you. That support is truly invaluable when you’re learning by yourself or taking online lessons.
With all that being said, I understand that renting isn’t possible for everyone and some students simply prefer to buy an instrument outright. If that’s the case, here are my top three recommendations for beginner violins to purchase.
#1: Eastman brand violins
You really can’t go wrong with any Eastman violin, but here’s one of my favorites. Eastman violins are not mass-produced; they are all handmade and the quality speaks for itself. I’ve never met an Eastman violin that didn’t sound good! The price varies depending on which one you get, but expect to pay around 1,000 USD.
#2 Fiddlershop Concert Violin Outfit
If Eastman is out of your price range, consider purchasing an instrument from Fiddlershop. The Concert Violin Outfit runs about 500 USD and comes with a bow, case, shoulder rest, and rosin…aka everything you need to get started! The violin is good quality, but the reason why I personally recommend Fiddlershop is because of their customer service. They respond quickly and
#3 Hoffman brand violins
These instruments will run you about 200 USD. They aren’t the greatest quality, but they get the job done, and they are certainly better than the VSOs (violin shaped objects) that run rampant on Amazon.
Finally, any violin is better than no violin, so if a $50 one from your local thrift shop is all you can afford, go for it. One of my previous teachers used to tell me a great violinist can make any instrument sound good. And I truly believe that ❤️
What kind of violin do you play? Leave a comment and let me know!
